What We're Missing
by Divine Champion
Summary: He lost his family. She never met her father. How convenient for the two.


**Hey guys, CDS here with a (probably late) Father's Day story. I wanted to work on a story that had Lao in it for a while. You see, I have a headcanon of Amaterasu and Lao having this father-daughter relationship together. I've always seen the two this way.**

 **Please note that this takes place after the events of Chapter 11. You have been warned.**

 **Disclaimer: I only own my character Amaterasu.**

 **Please enjoy.**

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"I figured you'd be here."

Lao recognized the voice easily, considering how often she looked for him, especially now. After what he had done, he had been suspended indefinitely. Besides Lin and Doug, the young woman before him had cared for him.

"I just wanted some time for myself."

The way she chuckled reminded him of his wife. She only knew bits of his past on Earth, and didn't push for more, seemingly content of what she had. Amaterasu was a caring girl, always worried about her friends and willing to lend an ear or a shoulder to cry on.

"Like usual. Do you want to talk about it?"

Her footsteps echoed on the metal as she walked towards him, wary of the ledge. Being this high up above the gel didn't settle well with her. And with the intense rainstorm, she didn't want to take any chances of slipping and falling.

He was silent, like the previous times she had asked the question. She expected it, but she knew that he liked her presence. But still, he needed someone to open up to, someone to vent.

"Do… Do you miss them?"

"Ammy…"

Already, there was that wall. Anything related to his family would just make him push everyone away. But how could she make him open up and confide? Hmm…

A feeling took over her and she admitted something that felt -was- the truth.

"I never met my father."

Dark grey eyes were now focused on her, the owner's silence urging her to continue.

"My memory is still really fuzzy, but I know that that is true. I remember a woman's voice saying that my father would have been proud to see me. That I had inherited his eyes. I think she was my mother."

Gold eyes looked over the city, having a faraway look in their eyes. Recalling what few scraps of memories she had obtained through her nightmare-plagued sleep, she continued to speak.

"So, throughout my childhood, it was just me and my mother. My father was never there because…" her voice started to break, but cleared her throat, "According to my mom, he had died in a war."

Lao could see the light in Amaterasu's eyes dim at the thought. He knew more about her than anyone else, beside Victor, of course. He wasn't sure about Hector, though. Thinking back, there was another world war before the building of the arks became the world's main priority.

"When she told me that, I vaguely remember promising myself that I'd be the best daughter for her. That I'd do anything to honor them both."

"Both?" Lao asked, tilting his head slightly to the left. And perhaps this was the instinct of a father working, but he saw tears beginning to well in her eyes and her lower lip tremble.

Meanwhile, something came to Amaterasu's mind. A noise that suddenly made sense to her. She always heard this loud bang, followed by a thud. Now, almost two months of being awake on Mira, she knows what memory was being replayed.

It was a gunshot and her mother falling to the floor, unmoving.

She quickly hugged herself, and started to hyperventilate, feeling her own mental walls break down. Her mind seem to blank out, because the next thing she knew, she was away from the ledge, and in Lao's arms, who was trying his best to calm her. She was shaking at the sudden memory, and wanted to get away from it.

Lao's paternal instincts seemed to have saved her from falling over the edge. He pulled her away, and gone down to his knees to let her sit and cry. Even though they blended in with the rain, he could tell that she was letting the waterworks flow. He held like he would with his daughter. He rubbed the female Pathfinder's back soothingly, and rocked her back and forth, remaining quiet the whole time.

Eventually, her tears did stop, and she apologized for breaking down the way she did. But when she tried to stand, Lao tightened his grip slightly, wanting to protect her from her inner demons but knowing he couldn't.

"Please…"

That was the voice of a broken father who had lost his family. Amaterasu realized that he was opening up through actions, and made her choice. She relaxed her muscles and hugged him back, like how a child would after crying from an injury.

' _I promise you this, Lao. I'll do anything to protect you. You're like a father to me, and I willing to save you from the others. But please, save yourself for me.'_


End file.
